1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mesopore material and a method for producing it. The invention provides a material of a new category in that the material is of a silicon dioxide tetrahedron sheet having mesopores which are oriented vertical to the surface of the sheet and have a pore size falling between 1 and 50 nm, and in that the silicon dioxide tetrahedron sheet has a specific two-dimensional or three-dimensional structure of the original pseudomorphs of its raw material of clay minerals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Zeolite is known as an inorganic porous material capable of being used as catalysts, adsorbents and the like.
The present applicant has already proposed excellent, novel porous materials to be within the category of so-called mesopore materials, which are produced from phyllo-structured clay minerals, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei-4-238810 and Japanese Patent Application No. Hei-8-261472.
However, as their pores are all in the form of deep tunnels, the known material, zeolite, and the mesopore materials which the applicant has proposed have problems in some uses in that their pores are often clogged with metal grains held on them with the result that their large surface area could not be utilized effectively, and in that the direction of the pores of each particles could vary depending on particles. In addition, as having such deep pores, the known porous or mesopore materials would be unfavorable to the uses where not so deep pores are desired.
The mesopore materials noted above have a honeycomb-like porous structure while having lost the intrinsic pseudomorphs (e.g., tabular, tubular or fibrous pseudomorphs) of their raw material of clay minerals during their production. However, if they still keep the intrinsic pseudomorphs of their raw material of clay minerals as such, their novel applications could be developed.